RSPB & Hen Harriers.

Are you sure the Bedfordshire Hen Harriers are not actually Montague Harriers ???

99% sure they are not Montagu Harriers.

The male is very white with true black wingtips (so white that on first sighting I thought it was a bloody seagull...:doh: ) and the female markings are very pronounced. The Mantagu markings are less distinctive and the male is greyer?

Definite chance I could be wrong though...
 
Funny that they should be so surprised at hen harriers in Bedfordshire when its just a few years ago they seemed to be so common that an RSPB warden saw Prince Harry shoot two on the edge of a reserve in Norfolk (yet their bodies were never found!)

​Ahem!

There's quite a difference in where some raptors, including harriers, can be found in the shooting season compared to the breeding season. Norfolk is where hen harriers winter but nowhere near their breeding range.
 
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99% sure they are not Montagu Harriers.

The male is very white with true black wingtips (so white that on first sighting I thought it was a bloody seagull...:doh: ) and the female markings are very pronounced. The Mantagu markings are less distinctive and the male is greyer?

Definite chance I could be wrong though...

I cannot challenge you directly as I have clearly not seen the birds but consider this. Your birds are about 200 miles from the nearest known site for hen harriers breeding and you are well in the area where montagu's harriers are found in the breeding season. The males are pretty similar, not white but pale grey ( herring gull colour) both with black tips to the wing. Could they be montagu's?

The good news is that if they are montagu's harriers they are far rarer generally than hen harriers, although not in England, as there are less than 20 pairs nesting in the UK whereas there are about 600 pairs of hen harriers.
 
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I cannot challenge you directly as I have clearly not seen the birds but consider this. Your birds are about 200 miles from the nearest known site for hen harriers breeding and you are well in the area where montague harriers are found in the breeding season. The males are pretty similar, not white but pale grey ( herring gull colour) both with black tips to the wing. Could they be montagues?

The good news is that if they are montague harriers they are far rarer generally than hen harriers, although not in England, as there are less than 20 pairs nesting in the UK whereas there are about 600 pairs of hen harriers.

I can only repeat what I stated earlier that I am not an expert but the male is very white (sparkling "Dulux" white if you like) and there not a hint of greyness so I'm not convinced it's a Montagu's. Much brighter white than the male in this



I first saw the male in November 2009 and he is still around. I haven't seen the female or the 2013 youngsters for about a month.
 
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